1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A waterproof connector disclosed in Publication of Japanese Patent No. 4193711 includes a pair of male and female housings connectable to each other. Out of these housings, the female housing includes an inner tube portion and an outer tube portion surrounding the inner tube portion. An annular seal member is fitted on the outer surface of the inner tube portion. On the other hand, the male housing includes a tubular receptacle externally fittable on the inner tube portion from front. Further, a plurality of lips are circumferentially provided one after another in a front-back direction on the seal member, and each lip is resiliently held in close contact with the inner surface of the receptacle to seal between the two housings when the two housings are connected.
A long and narrow rear end part of the seal member may extend backward from the rearmost lip for some reason such as a metal molding reason. On the other hand, in the process of connecting the two housings, an opening edge part of the receptacle slides in contact with each lip, whereby a shear force is applied to the seal member in a moving direction of the receptacle. Thus, if the rear end part of the seal member extends long as described above, it may be flipped or buckled along a vertical wall located behind the seal member, wherefore it may not be possible to obtain predetermined sealability.
The present invention was completed based on the above situation and aims to prevent a reduction in sealability between housings.